Back Montenegro: Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code strengthen victims’ rights

Podgorica 29 September 2026
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Montenegro: Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code strengthen victims’ rights

The amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Montenegro entered into force on 17 September 2026, strengthening the legal framework for the protection and participation of victims in criminal proceedings, among other changes.

The revised framework introduces a definition of the term “victim” and establishes a comprehensive set of rights aimed at strengthening victims’ procedural status and ensuring their effective participation and protection throughout criminal proceedings.

The amendments also provide for the establishment of specialised Victim Support Services, with the aim of ensuring more systematic, accessible and specialised support to victims. The provisions on the Victim Support Services will become applicable within one year of the entry into force of the amendments.

The amendments mark an important step towards a more victim-centred criminal justice system and further alignment with European and international standards on victims’ rights, and further support towards effective implementation of the relevant provisions in the practice, will be provided through the Action “Strengthening accountability of the judicial system and enhancing protection of victims’ rights in Montenegro,”, part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

Work in this thematic area focuses on prisons and police (including human rights in policing, healthcare in prisons and safeguards against torture and ill-treatment), human rights standards in the judiciary (focusing on enhancing the application of case-law of the European Court of Human Rights), migration issues, the efficiency of justice systems (with a focus on analysing judicial statistics to optimise court administrations) and/or legal co-operation (which concentrates on increasing the individual independence of judges and prosecutors and the accountability of the judicial system).

Actions under theme I: Strengthening justice

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.